Comments on: Modern Mythology and Inner Experiences

By: starbadger

starbadger — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:32:25 +0000

bme is dead
long live bme

By: Bothrops

Bothrops — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 07:05:28 +0000

That is a very well written entry Shannon! However, I think even before you left IAM/BME body modification had lost it’s spirituality. Look at how some suspensions are conducted now.

Some jack ass is sitting around getting drunk with his friends and decides to suspend.

Sadly sometime things shifted from suspensions being spiritual to being what ever they are now.

I think it is the same with all body modifications or ritual procedures. Even bearing a fucking kadavi lost a lot of it’s meaning.

One of my best friends is an anthropologist. We were taking about conquest in relation to body modification. The last thing that a lot of conquered peoples had was their religion. Was bastardizing and mainstreaming the last thing they had (religion and rituals) the ultimate step in their conquest?

I think that is partially accurate. I am still really sad about how mainstream body modification is.

I do not blame BME for it though. One thing IAM/BME was (at least I feel it was) was an awesome networking tool to find like minded individuals. Kind of a “you are not crazy there are other people that feel the same way” type of community.

I find it very interesting that your absence from IAM/BME seemed to coincide with the dieing breaths of REAL independence, individualism, spiritualism, and ritualism associated with body modification.

By: brighter_hell

brighter_hell — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 20:02:10 +0000

Greater visibility in the public sphere will of course bring on commodifcation by capitalistic entities, but man, you also reached/reach people who felt alone in their lust for something more than the mechanical perception of the body/life which is commonly pushed by the majority. going back and re-reading all the interviews in ‘opening up’ which i am currently doing, shows one of the ways in which your contribution to the public sphere very much included deeper thought to the field for anyone who chose to look for, or who were receptive to it.

By: Jon P

Jon P — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:24:48 +0000

I think everyone above summed up my feelings quite nicely. When Rachel took over, BME lost it’s spark. It lost it’s connectedness on a personal level. Hence, I left. Now I only serve to antagonise the soulless plastic beast it has become.

By: Sonja

Sonja — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 14:22:53 +0000

that book is great! we just used it last semester in the art of being human class that i took (if anyone ever has a chance to take a class like that–do it!!). i’m going back over it again now, since i can focus on it better now that i’m out of class for the summer. :)

By: Suppe

Suppe — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 19:32:50 +0000

For myself, when I stumbled upon BME years ago, it brought the non-fashion part of body modification much closer to me than it was before. Sort of made me appreciate the experience itsself in addition to the result by convincing me that enjoying intense physical feelings and what they make you feel, well, mind-related is not wrong or “pervert” or something.. I often spent all night reading about other’s sensations in body mod activities.. Hope I’m not the only one having been dragged into that aspect of it.

By: DreadLetterDay

DreadLetterDay — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 11:06:48 +0000

You’re probably well aware of this, but…

https://www.bopsecrets.org/SI/debord/index.htm

“In societies where modern conditions of production prevail, all of life presents itself as an immemse accumulation of spectacle. Everything that was directly lived has moved away into a representation.”

Commodities are great slaves, but oppressive masters.

By: Chris

Chris — Sun, 21 Jun 2009 00:09:50 +0000

To extend on your ideas, I’ve been wondering how long it will be until someone tries to start franchising tattoo and piercing shops.

I think for a lot of people there are still some barriers going into a tattoo shop such as: are the artists actually good? is the shop clean? will they be able to make my tramp stamp sooper hawt? And the like. If someone could franchise tattoo shops, guarantee cleanliness, guarantee that the artists are good, etc., it could definitely open up doors for many people to get tattoos.

Of course, if it were to happen it would remove even more of the soul, meaning, and spirituality of tattos.

That being said, less common body modification I think will still remain out of the public eye, which will keep it to people that find more than a fashionable value to it (probably). Also, I’m not so sure artists would be willing to be part of a franchise… I guess only time will tell.

By: h

Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:55:08 +0000

you know, I stopped reading modblog pretty soon after you ‘left’, and I never did figure out exactly what it was that had been lost.. I think you just summed it up.

and yeah, bme probably did help to mainstream body modification, but I think there are also still people who are into the spiritual side, to whom bme was(is?) a fantasic resource..

By: Uncle Flo

Uncle Flo — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 23:07:59 +0000

There is validity to your line of thought. It is necessary to question ones place in events in order to understand those events and the inevitable changes we are all part of.

By: leandro

leandro — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:57:32 +0000

“I’ve felt like there’s a certain rejection of the spiritual (for lack of a better word) elements in body modification in favour of the fashion elements” . I think that anyone who had contact with bme when you where part of the staff, fells the lose of the spiritual and cultural aspect. you introduced it to the mainstream, but the actual staff transformed it to fit this public and its demands. it really sads me.
ps: sorry any error on my english iam from Brazil.

By: rizzo

rizzo — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 21:31:38 +0000

I just left iam and BME. I started going on the internet in mid 1999, and that was one of the first sites I found as a link from a now closed body piercing shop. I feel lost now, but it hasn’t been the same since you left (ok that sounds like a sad song but it’s true)

By: peteD3

peteD3 — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 17:17:24 +0000

awesome

By: Waiting4Arson

Waiting4Arson — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:23:12 +0000

“I know that I played a significant role in bringing body modification to millions of people, but I also wonder if my zeal to push it so far into the public eye and demand its acceptance also forces me to accept a strong role in deeply damaging this pathway?”

It’s questions like that that will make your memoir more than an exercise in vanity. keep it up.